Pumpkin Soup with Coconut, Ginger and Chilli

 Another pumpkin recipe- I hadn't realised just how versatile pumpkins are until recently. From one fairly large Crown Prince pumpkin I have made enough soup to generously serve 10 people, using the rest of the flesh in a cake, and I am planning to roast and salt the pumpkin seeds! I have used the Crown Prince variety here as I have heard they have more flavour than the standard Jack-O-Lantern ones (the orange ones which are usually used for carving at Halloween).


Serves 4


Ingredients


-500g pumpkin flesh (seeds and skin removed- this is roughly 1/2 a small pumpkin or 1/4 of a large one)
-1 tin coconut milk
-1 red chilli (or as much as you can handle), finely chopped
-3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
-1 onion, peeled and finely diced
-1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
-1 tsp tomato purée
-1 tsp marmite
-1 tsp stock granules (I used Marigold)/ 1/2 good quality stock cube
-1 tbsp soy sauce
-1 tsp toasted sesame oil (optional)
-1 lime leaf
-Sunflower oil for roasting/ frying
-Seasoning to taste


1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Chop the pumpkin into 3cm chunks and arrange on a roasting tray. Drizzle with sunflower oil and toss to coat. Roast for 30 minutes or until soft.
2. In a large saucepan gently fry the onion in some sunflower oil over a low heat until soft- do not let it brown. Add the garlic, ginger, and chilli and fry for 1 - 2 minutes more. 
3. Take a large measuring jug and fill with 1 litre of hot water. Add to it the following: tomato purée, Marmite, soy sauce, stock, and toasted sesame oil- stir to dissolve. 
4. Transfer the roasted pumpkin to the saucepan and add the tin of coconut milk, the stock, and the lime leaf. Simmer for 15 minutes then remove the lime leaf and purée using a stick blender or food processor (adding more liquid to get the desired thickness). Season to taste- you can also add more chilli/ soy sauce etc. if desired.